5 Things to Watch: Everything to keep an eye on in NRL Round 18

State of Origin football is now officially in the rear-view mirror and sides vying for finals spots can begin their charge towards September. Here are 5 Things to Watch in Round 18.

Top four clash in Townsville

The Cronulla Sharks will make the trip up north Friday night to take on a Cowboys side that has won 10 of their past 11 games, however, the hosts will be without a number of their stars. Valentine Holmes, Jeremiah Nanai, Tom Dearden, Murray Taulagi and Jordan McLean will all be watching on from the sidelines, whilst Nicho Hynes, Siosifa Talakai, and Toby Rudolf each make their returns for the Sharks. Cronulla are on a seven-match winning streak against North Queensland and can help nestle themselves in the top four by extending that streak to eight. Sharks winger Sione Katoa has scored seven tries over his past five games, whilst fellow winger Ronaldo Mulitalo has scored six from his past six. The Cowboys have proven to be a far more resilient side than year’s past, but they will be leaning heavily on a few of their fringe first-graders if they are to get the job done against a strong Cronulla side. The likes of Jason Taumalolo, Scott Drinkwater, Reece Robson and Luciano Leilua still offer them some strike with ball in hand, whilst their defensive system has been near impenetrable for much of the year.

Finals implications on the Central Coast

The Roosters will face the Dragons on Saturday afternoon on the Central Coast in what is shaping as a must-win contest for both sides. The Dragons are sitting ninth with eight wins, whilst the Roosters are sitting at tenth with seven. Whichever side drops this one will dig themselves as serious hole to get out of across the final seven weeks of 2022. The sides last faced off on ANZAC Day when the Dragons held on for a memorable victory at the SCG. The Roosters have named all of their Origin stars to back up, however, Lindsay Collins will miss the contest after failing a first-half HIA. James Tedesco and Daniel Tupou each went the full distance, whilst Angus Crichton played 73. Jared Waerea-Hargreaves has been named to make his return from injury, whilst Matt Lodge is a chance of making his club debut. The Dragons, meanwhile, will be hoping Game III hero Ben Hunt manages to back up, whilst they will be without Tariq Sims and Mikaele Ravalawa. Both Joseph Suaalii and Moses Suli have scored four tries over their past four and will be eager to add to that tally.

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Reshuffled Titans take on flying Broncos

Justin Holbrook has made a raft of changes to his side in a bid to kickstart a climb up the league table and potentially save his job. AJ Brimson will shift to fullback making way for Tanah Boyd at five-eighth, whilst Aaron Booth will make his club debut in the nine jumper. Jojo Fifita will make his NRL debut on the wing also. As for Brisbane, Corey Oates and Patty Carrigan are expected to back up after a successful Origin campaign, whilst Selwyn Cobbo will miss the clash after suffering a head knock. The Titans and Broncos have met in some memorable encounters in recent history and, even though Brisbane have enjoyed a much stronger 2022, few would be surprised if this went down to the wire. Oates is fresh off a pair of try-doubles for Brisbane and will fancy himself against the Titans’ porous right edge. Kevin Walters will be hopeful that Brisbane can pick off where they left off prior to the start of the Origin period.

16th-place Wests Tigers face understrength Panthers

It has been a big week for the Wests Tigers after news broke that Tim Sheens and Benji Marshall would form a long-term, master-and-apprentice coaching duo to guide the club into the future and the week will get even bigger on Sunday afternoon when they face an undermanned Panthers lineup at CommBank Stadium. Penrith will be without all seven of their Origin stars and will be as vulnerable as they get. Adam Doueihi will start in the halves for the Wests Tigers for the first time this season, whilst Jackson Hastings will wear the 13 jumper for the first time at NRL or Super League level. Fa’amanu Brown has offered the Wests Tigers a nice attacking spark out of dummy-half having scored three tries and busted 13 tackles through five games. Kurt Falls and Sean O’Sullivan will lineup alongside each other in the halves for the second time this season with the Panthers at NRL level this season after a Round 13 win over Canterbury. The likes of Dylan Edwards, Viliame Kikau, and James Fisher-Harris will be relied on more than usual as the veterans of the side.

What do Melbourne have left in the tank?

2022 has been a less than ideal year for the Storm; Josh Addo-Carr, Nicho Hynes, and Dale Finucane all left the club over the offseason and Christian Welch, Reimis Smith, Ryan Papenhuyzen and Xavier Coates are among the names who have spent time on the sidelines this season. Jesse Bromwich, Felise Kaufusi, Brandon Smith and Kenny Bromwich will all leave the side come season’s end so the remainder of this season will be some type of last dance for this playing group. Having lost four of their last seven conceding an average of nearly 30 points in very un-Melbourne-like fashion, questions surrounding the Storm’s premiership credentials are beginning to surface. Kaufusi, Cameron Munster, and Harry Grant will all return for the Storm when they take on Canberra this Sunday afternoon in Melbourne, however, Smith will miss the next three weeks after shouting some choice words at referee Adam Gee in last week’s loss to Cronulla. Canberra, meanwhile, will be eager to keep in touch with the top eight and will well and truly be on the outside of the top eight picture looking in if they fall to Melbourne on Sunday.

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